What's in the Bag?
An inside look at physicians' bags over the past two centuries

This web exhibit is based on an exhibit on display on the main floor of Hawaii Medical Library.
That exhibit was on display from January 2001 to April 2001.

The Mamiya Medical Heritage Center at Hawaii Medical Library houses over 200 medical instruments. Most of these are from the first half of the twentieth century, although there are some that date to earlier centuries. The exhibit "What's in the Bag?" contains several instruments spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, demonstrating the changes that took place in medical instrumentation as advances were made in the field of medicine. Along with the changes in medical instruments went a change in drugs and medicines, which the exhibit also illustrates. The instruments and pharmaceuticals displayed in this exhibit are indicative of those that were carried by physicians in their bags, during the times that doctors were more mobile in their practice.

Prior to the 19th century, there were very few instruments used by physicians to diagnose the illnesses of their patients. Those that did exist were carried in the deep pockets of frock coats worn by the physicians. One of the diagnostic instruments that was invented in the early 19th century was the stethoscope, invented in 1816 by French physician René Théophile­Hyacinthe Läennec. Other instruments might include blood-letting kits, bandages, sutures, and scissors. Along with the few instruments, bottles of drugs and medicines used for treating illness and disease were also transported in the pockets of these frock coats.

The move from medicines being carried in frock coats to being carried in medicine chests occurred toward the end of the 19th century. These medical chests were usually fairly large and had several drawers and holes for stowing bottles, bandages and instruments. The medicine chest of a local physician who practiced medicine in Hawaii for several decades during the 19th century still exists. Dr. Gerrit P. Judd was a missionary with the Third Missionary Company, sent by the ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) in 1827, arriving in Honolulu in 1828. His medicine chest is part of the Mission Houses Museum Collection in Honolulu. Also part of this collection are medicine bottles from the pharmacy of surgeon, pharmacist and druggist Dr. S. Porter Ford, which date back to the middle of the 19th century. The labels on the bottles are in both English and Hawaiian.

Click on the links below to gain a better understanding of some of the changes medicine has undergone in the past two hundred years. The links will take you to images of the assortment of instruments and pharmaceuticals on display in the exhibit "What's in the Bag?" at the Hawaii Medical Library.

• 19th century instruments and pharmaceuticals
• 20th century instruments and pharmaceuticals

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